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Crasher at Passion - 01/11/03
Review by Muzik

Crasher at Passion. Two of the biggest names in clubbin history finally team up for what was promised to be one of the biggest nights in clubbing history. Could the two giants pull it off? There differences set aside for 12 hours whilst 2500 like minded clubbers enjoy the thrills and spills both party’s had to offer? With so many factors for and against this night I decided to head on down to Coalville with extreme caution.

Keeping that uncertainty at the forefront of my mind my first impressions of the night were some what mixed. We arrived at 9.30 expecting a queue to rival that of the Nemesis at Alton Towers during the summer holidays. How wrong was I. There wasn’t a queue. Within seconds we were searched and inside the building but not before being informed any cameras were to be taken back to our car. Harsh and hardly fair. In all my days of clubbing at Passion I've never been told I can’t take a camera in, it was pretty obvious at this point who was pulling the strings on this one, the mighty lion. Eh, no worries, no camera means no photos, on the bright side less luggage.

Already the Green room was heaving with bodies, the atmosphere was some what nervous yet exciting, like know one quite knew what to expect. We bought a drink and took a stroll through the Blue room to the front chill out room squeezing past the hundreds of clubbers already working to Matt Hardwick’s up beat style. Not quite what id of expected this early in the night, yet, with the podiums were heaving and smiles gleaming on the faces surrounding it was all good.

We found our self in the White room catching up with friends originating from both clubs and all views were the same, tonight looked to be good. Not two hours into the night and already The Emporium was filling fast. The Crasher folk looked at ease, they certainly made themselves comfortable and the DFOP’s welcomed them with open arms, something that I'm sure every level of management had at some point, worried about.

I took a stroll upstairs onto the Blue room balcony and was greeted by a different lay out than usual. The Dj booth found itself above the White room entrance (common during Red Room Session events) and much to the surprise and enjoyment of everyone, so did the lazer. The lazer in Passion has always come from the wrong direction, yet, with the Dj booth being in the centre of the club its effects would almost be pointless if positioned here during a normal night. Tonight however, with the entire Blue room crowd facing the Dj, the lazer positioning couldn’t have been any better if it had tried.

By this time the venue was close to capacity I'm sure. Armin van Buuren had made his entrance for some bizarre reason felt compelled to play poor bootlegs the world did not need to hear. For instance, Tiesto’s Urban Train vs. Armin van Buuren Yet Another Day. This track actually offended me. What on earth would possess anyone to put poor male vocals over an all time classic? I seriously hope some one got sued for that mess; it’s a crime against Trance music. Thankfully Armin made up for this monstrosity by dropping his remix of Motorcycle – As the Rush Comes. A little tweak with the EQ and the vocals were faded enough to hear the entire Blue room singing in unison to one of the biggest tracks this year. This single moment alone made the 30 mile journey and £20 ticket worth while. Tears streamed down the face of a young girl towards the front and I myself held back. A moment in clubbin history never to be forgotten.

Before long I set off into Red Room for Signum. Back in the late 90’s I was a big fan of Signum’s work. The familiar pop pop beat and high energy break downs were at the forefront of the trance explosion for some years. In recent times however I've not been as impressed, so, it was great to see the boys banging it out hard and having the heaving crowd giving it their all. I had a quick bosh for about 20 minutes or so then retired to the Green room where Curtis thrashed the breaks n beats for England.

Finding a place to sit wasn’t easy, finding a happy face wasn’t hard. Everywhere I looked people were laughing and joking as if once in a life events like this happened all the time. It seemed very clear everyone was enjoying themselves as much as I was.

I ventured on back to the White room but not before stopping to catch Marco V. Back in September I caught Marco play at Crasher’s 9th birthday and nothing I've ever heard has come close to his set that night. It was with disappointment Marco was thrashing his usual high energy tracks with pulsating base lines as apposed to the magnificent progressive set id hoped for. Still Marco V vs. Jens - Loops and Things Relooped hit the spot perfectly.

It wasn’t long into JFK’s set I began to tire. After waltzing round to pick up my belongs and say good bye to friends I set off shortly after 5am with a smile on my face. Light weight? Possibly, but then id sooner walk away content with my evening than force the whole night on me and become irritable come 7am.

So, did I enjoy myself? As with every club night there's always niggles. Rank 1’s cancellation was a blow to the system however my largest concern was just how busy the venue was. Crasher’s 9th birthday was a complete sell out yet we were given more than enough space to dance. At the Emporium however it was a different story, breathing room was certainly not on the list of things to assure during the 12 hours of trance goodness. Still, I had myself a fantastic night and the countless threads littering the Passion and Crasher boards indicate I wasn’t the only one. Will we see the two go head to head again? A rematch at GateCrasher One perhaps? I certainly hope so.